Hi Erik,

This anecdote doesn't involve electronics, but it is an amusing cautionary tale along the same lines nonetheless.

It seems that many years ago, before Lionel got into the model train business, a toy maker built and sold a model train that actually ran on steam. The engine was essentially a big water resevoir and the cap had a fuel tank that slipped in from below. The fuel tank was a box with a horizontal manifold tube that held three wicks. The fuel tank was filled with alcohol, the three wicks were lit, and the fuel tank was inserted into the locomotive. The flaming wicks heated the water and actually drove the engine. It was literally a scale model of a steam powered locomotive.

Unfortunately they neglected to include a throttle in the design. So, the train gets set up around the Christmas tree, it takes off around it's circular track going faster and faster until physics take over and the engine tips over. At that point the alcohol spilled out of the fuel tank all over the floor, and was promply lit by the flaming wicks. In short order the entire tree, and living room for that matter, are up in flames.

While the event is fictitious, the model train is not. This was an actual unintended design flaw in an actual toy that was sold back before there was any such thing as an electric train set.